The
city of Amsterdam has historically experienced some unique forms of torture and
horror. During the 16th Century, the Spanish Inquisition ruled the Netherlands,
implementing gruesome methods and instruments of torture. The religious Council
of Blood sentenced torturous executions to those who acted against the norm or
offended the Catholic Church. Common treasons included witchcraft, Anabaptist
practice and general heretical behavior, condemning over 16,000 people to their
death by burning at the stake, beheading, hanging or the unimaginably worse.

In the 17th century, the wealthy of Amsterdam enjoyed its Golden Age with the
foundation of the VOC (Dutch East Indian Company). The world’s first and richest
multinational company brought many riches to Amsterdam, but also many deaths.
Thousands of sailors were employed by the VOC, leaving the docks of Amsterdam,
never to return. Conditions onboard were extremely savage, unsanitary and fatal.

The VOC also brought the gruesome plague to Amsterdam through infected rats
and fleas aboard their ships. The retched disease wiped out one-sixth the
population of Amsterdam in the 17th Century by a horrific death of vomiting
blood and bleeding through the skin.

The
Amsterdam Dungeon, a tourist attraction new to the city, takes visitors on a
virtual journey through its gruesome past. On arrival, the sight of skeletons
and the sounds of dark, Gregorian chanting makes for an eerie welcoming to the
horrors of medieval Amsterdam.

Live actors guide you through this exhibition of torture and suffering, with
plenty of audience participation and laughs. As you travel underground, the
first segment introduces the world of torture, where a torturer of the Spanish
Inquisition turns volunteers into victims of her painful instruments.

Other interactive highlights include a lesson in grisly,
primitive surgical practice on the VOC’s injured, a sentencing at the Council of
Blood and a chat with a local who sells your soul to the VOC. There’s a maze of
mirrors to get lost in, replicating the dark, dangerous and confusing streets of
Amsterdam that were littered with robbers and where any misstep would leave you
splashing in a canal. They save the best for last with a grim rollercoaster ride
including a tummy-twisting drop.

At the end, personal photographs are available for sale, taken from various
points along the tour and a gift shop sells creepy memorabilia. This haunted
house is chock full of historical facts and leaves you with a newfound
appreciation for the modern judiciary system.

Practical information

The Amsterdam Dungeon is the latest in a series of educational attractions
from the Merlin Entertainments
Group, which operates similar dungeons in London, York, Edinburgh, and
Hamburg as well as Legoland, Sea-Life, the National Seal Sanctuary, and other
attractions. It occupies a former church on the site of a medieval graveyard
where archaeologists recently found hundreds of tombstones. (See
article.)

How to get there: The Amsterdam Dungeon is located at Rokin 78 in
central Amsterdam. From Centraal Station, take tram 4, 9, 16, or 24 and get off
at Spui/Rokin.

When to visit: The dungeon is open daily except Christmas from 10:30
a.m. until 6:00 p.m.

Jade Frank is a freelance travel writer and
photographer. She is from Alaska, has lived in South America and Europe, and has
taught English to university students in Kunming, China, where she wrote the
ChinaMusing blog.